Good Monday morning.
An ode to Spring, which officially began yesterday (happy belated Vernal Equinox!):
Here’s to Spring, a shoulder season
Known as such for many a reason
The weather, it sometimes feels like treason
Warm one day, the next day, freezin’
The winds, they sometimes seriously breezin’
Green shoots set those allergies wheezin’
Mud abounds as the snow pack’s easin’
Overall, though, it’s mighty pleasin’
OK, so I’m not Shakespeare. I tried.
I subjected you to my second-rate rhyming to bring your attention to the fact that today is World Poetry Day (not to be confused with National Poetry Day, mind you, which falls on the first Thursday in October in the UK, or National Poetry Month, which, ironically, starts just a few weeks from now on April 1).
So World Poetry Day, according to its official website:
“Celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity. Practiced throughout history – in every culture and on every continent – poetry speaks to our common humanity and our shared values, transforming the simplest of poems into a powerful catalyst for dialogue and peace.”
The date was first adopted by UNESCO in 1999 with the goal of supporting linguistic diversity and raising the profile of indigenous languages.
I’ve never been big into poetry, but one of the best road races I ever ran was, hands-down, the James Joyce Ramble 10K.
It’s held in Dedham, MA. Throughout the course, costumed actors read aloud from various works of Joyce, (better known as a novelist, but he did, in fact, write some poetry), who I continue to find almost entirely incomprehensible, but helpfully distracting when one is gasping for breath and powering up a muddy hill.
Really, really fun. If you’re ever in the area, check it out.
In case you’re curious: Poetry is believed to have originated more than 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia with the invention of cuneiform, which is a sort of logo-based early form of written language. It has its roots in ancient rituals and chants used for storytelling purposes during rituals and/or ceremonies.
If you feel so compelled and think you can do better than my (admittedly lame) attempt at poetry today, go ahead and give it your best shot. Consider watching this if you need some inspiration.
It will be party cloudy today, with temperatures in the low-to-mid 50s.
In the headlines…
Russia’s assault on Ukraine has forced more than 10 million people to abandon their homes, the United Nations said, with the scale of the humanitarian disaster showing little sign of easing as Moscow presses its attack with missile strikes and artillery fire.
After failing to secure a quick victory over Ukraine, there are signs the Kremlin is shifting to a new strategy to secure key territorial objectives while seeking leverage to compel the Ukrainian government to accept neutrality between Russia and the West.
Ukraine rejected a demand to surrender the city of Mariupol by 5 a.m. this morning, as Russian forces broadened their bombardment of the strategic port and forcibly deported thousands of residents, according to city officials and witnesses.
President Joe Biden will travel to Poland on Friday after a series of high-level meetings in Brussels as the United States and its allies coordinate their response to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations warned there was little immediate hope of a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine, as pressure continued to build on the US president ahead of a crucial Nato summit in Europe this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hasn’t given up on the prospect of negotiations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, even as Russian forces continue to pummel Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said that he has been ready to speak with Putin the past two years and warned that if talks failed, that would bring on a world war.
Zelenskiy said that Israel was undertaking many efforts to arrange top-level peace talks between his country and Russia and suggested they might take place in Jerusalem.
Some Chernobyl nuclear plant workers were permitted to go home yesterday after roughly 600 hours at the facility following its seizure by Russian forces invading Ukraine.
Global concerns that Russia’s invasion would curtail Ukraine’s 2022 harvest have come to fruition. The crop shortfall will extend to the many countries that rely on Ukraine for wheat, corn and cooking oil.
Manufacturers with Russian ties are working to figure out how to survive, after sanctions leveled on Russia over recent weeks curb the flow of goods and money between the country and Western markets.
Saying companies that do business with Russia are playing “Russian roulette with the hard-earned dollars of the investing public,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronc Democrat, says U.S. companies should have to disclose any such ties.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson plans to highlight her legal experience and history of working with Republicans during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings this week, as GOP senators question her record on sentences for people convicted of crimes.
Republicans are intensifying their attacks on Jackson after weeks of publicly reserving judgment on her, ahead of historic hearings on the first Black woman to be put forward as a justice.
Like most every other nominee for the Supreme Court, Jackson has been participating behind closed doors in so-called “moot court” sessions to prepare for her upcoming hearings.
Democrats are hoping to finish Jackson’s confirmation process before Congress leaves for Easter recess April 11.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, the most senior associate justice on the high court, has been hospitalized for the past two days and is being treated for an infection, court officials said.
Thomas, the court’s longest-serving member, was hospitalized after experiencing flu-like symptoms and will miss some oral arguments this week.
Rep. Don Young, the dean of the House of Representatives and the longest-serving Republican in history, has died at the age of 88 while traveling home to Alaska. His wife Anne was by his side.
As Biden pushes for Americans to return to their pre-pandemic lifestyles, his administration is bracing for a new wave of U.S. Covid infections in the coming weeks, without key funding or essential tools in its arsenal.
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Biden administration’s top adviser on the pandemic, predicted an “uptick” in coronavirus infections similar to the current increase in Europe, despite the current decline in cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the United States.
Fauci said BA.2 is about 50% to 60% more transmissible than omicron, but it does not appear to be more severe.
Some states will close mass coronavirus testing sites in the coming weeks, as many did before the recent Omicron surge, despite concerns among some public health experts that the United States may be unprepared for a new wave of cases.
Americans shouldn’t panic over the recent spike in COVID cases in Europe, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said.
As some parts of China reopen, others are imposing new Covid-related restrictions, reflecting the challenge government officials face in controlling the worst outbreak since early 2020.
The Shanghai Disney Resort said it will temporarily close until further notice starting today, citing the new coronavirus outbreak in China.
Moratoriums have expired on turning off utilities for customers who have failed to pay their bills, prompting fears that thousands could be left in the dark.
At least three elected officials have tested positive for COVID-19 following the New York State Association of Counties’ annual conference at the The Desmond Hotel in Colonie last week — including Albany County Executive Dan McCoy.
New York is about to surpass another grim milestone: 70,000 deaths from COVID-19 — or more than enough bodies to fill both Mets Citi Field and Madison Square Garden, new data show.
New York is seeing the lowest number of COVID hospitalizations in the state since Aug. 2, 2021.
New York health officials are monitoring a new sub-variant of the coronavirus that has begun to spread in New York and across the country. BA.2 is a sub-variant of the omicron strain, and it made up 39% of cases in New York as of last week.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation expanding the state’s Opioid Settlement Board from 19 members to 21 members.
As the dust from the Cuomo administration’s implosion settles, budget director Robert Mujica is one of the last men standing and is a key negotiator in the budget talks – much to the consternation of some lawmakers.
New York lawmakers are calling for an expansion of postpartum coverage in the state’s Medicaid program, increasing the period from 60 days to a full year.
Potential changes to the state’s bail laws and the extension of mayoral control of schools in New York City are among the issues that await state leaders at they try to broker a budget deal with the new governor.
Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger said she wouldn’t know anything about Hochul’s bombshell proposal to roll back controversial criminal-justice reforms — if it wasn’t for The NY Post.
Krueger nevertheless threw cold water on the governor’s proposal, saying: “I do not believe that the Legislature thinks that the problems we are dealing with are related to the changes we made in bail reform.”
A dark money group is running a second television ad attacking Hochul — and again is using rhetoric mirroring that of U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi of Long Island, who is one her Democratic gubernatorial opponents.
The lieutenant governor candidate running on the WFP penned an op-ed in the Daily News calling for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be impeached.
Two of Cuomo’s top former aides are seeking to be removed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a State Police investigator who accused the former governor of sexually harassing her while she was assigned to his protective detail.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams has been all but daring the left wing of the party to take him on, and they’re now preparing to do so, focusing in part on his budget proposal to cut funding for nearly every city agency.
Adams announced a slew of new fire safety measures yesterday, two months after the deadly Bronx blaze at a building with a long history of violations.
Adams, a Democrat, has had regular conversations with some of the city’s most influential business leaders as he tries to convince New Yorkers it’s time to return to normal and put COVID-19 behind them.
The mayor opened the door to scrapping a city rule requiring NYPD officer applicants to have earned college credits.
Adams promised that he would take his campaign against gun violence national during a press conference with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in the Windy City, which has been hit hard by a surge in homicides and shootings.
Adams is proposing a neat technological solution to the longstanding and messy dilemma of how to keep the city’s public schools safe without over-policing them.
Laurie Cumbo, a former Brooklyn Councilmember with a history of polarizing comments, is set to become the city’s next commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs, the mayor’s office announced.
The continuation of the work-in-person mandate by the Adams administration is making the city even less competitive in a job market where candidates have become accustomed to finding flexible remote or hybrid work options.
NYC has a benign-sounding but often raucous Citizens Air Complaint Program, a public health campaign that invites — and pays — people to report trucks that are parked and idling for more than three minutes, or one minute if outside a school.
Weekends and holidays were prime time for correction officers to call in sick — exacerbating the staff shortage at Rikers Island’s beleaguered jails, staffing records obtained by the Daily News show.
On at least four of the federally recognized Native American tribal reservations in the state, pot shops are everywhere, a sign that Native Americans have gained a significant head start in retail cannabis sales.
The feds should back off plans to close hospitals for military veterans in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Dutchess County, say New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Gillibrand is under fire for recommending one of the top donors to her campaign, Jennifer Rearden, for a lifetime post as a Manhattan federal judge.
The Senate’s bill to help millions of U.S. service members and veterans exposed to toxins at war isn’t good enough, Gillibrand said.
From 2008 to 2018, Catskill OTB spent about $2.2 million to rent the warehouses and properties that were “largely utilized for the storage of worthless items and garbage,” the state IG’s office said in a 2018 report that was released publicly for the first time.
Revelers cheered the return of Albany’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
A 63-year-old Connecticut hiker, who went missing in the Adirondack Park High Peaks, was found deceased Friday morning, state police and Department of Environmental Conservation officials said.
An apparently planned, though unannounced, Kanye West performance at the Grammys has reportedly been scrapped over his “concerning online behavior.”
